Chlorofluorocarbon gases (CFCs) became widely utilized in the mid-1960s-as refrigerants such as Freon, as fire retardants such as Halon, as spray-can propellants, as solvents, and as foam-blowing agents. CFCs were far more stable, far more chemically inert than alternatives and were, therefore, much safer to use. Unfortunately, they are so stable that they are likely to last in the atmosphere for more than 100 years.

Within three to five years, the time we now know it takes for CFCs to reach the stratosphere, annual average global temperatures began rising. By 1973, James Lovelock, using his new electron capture detector, found significant amounts of CFC-11 in all 50 air samples collected pole to pole. Stimulated by Lovelock’s work, Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland discovered in 1974 that when CFCs reach the stratosphere, they can be broken down by solar ultraviolet radiation ultimately freeing atoms of chlorine. One atom of chlorine can destroy 100,000 molecules of ozone by catalytic processes that are particularly effective in polar stratospheric clouds.

Ozone is created when solar ultraviolet-C radiation dissociates an oxygen molecule into two oxygen atoms, which then combine with oxygen molecules to form ozone (O3). Ultraviolet-B solar radiation then dissociates ozone back into an oxygen atom and an oxygen molecule. This ozone-oxygen cycle, known as the Chapman cycle, is continuous so that a molecule of ozone only lasts, on average, about 8.3 days. The ozone layer, 12 to 19 miles above Earth, is the region of the atmosphere where the physical-chemical conditions are most favorable for the ozone-oxygen cycle.

When a molecule such as oxygen or ozone is dissociated, the molecular pieces fly apart at high velocity, instantly converting all the bond energy into kinetic energy of translation. Average kinetic energy of translation of all atoms and molecules making up a gas is, according to the kinetic theory of gases, directly proportional to the temperature of a gas. Thus, high concentrations of ozone show regions of localized warming that were first observed to affect weather and climate by Gordon Dobson in the 1920s.

When ozone is depleted, less ultraviolet-B is absorbed within the ozone layer, cooling the ozone layer, as observed from 1970 to 1998. More ultraviolet-B is then observed to reach Earth, where it penetrates tens of yards into oceans and is thus absorbed very efficiently. Increased ultraviolet-B also dissociates ground-level ozone pollution, warming air in industrial regions. This explains why global warming from 1970 to 1998 was twice as great in the northern hemisphere, containing 90% of world population, than in the southern hemisphere. Ozone depletion is greatest in polar regions during the winter, explaining why the greatest warming observed from 1970 to 1998 was of minimum temperatures in polar regions, a phenomenon known as polar amplification.

In 1985, Joe Farman, Brian Gardiner, and Jon Shanklin discovered depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica by as much as 70% in austral spring. Scientists suddenly realized that ozone depletion was a much bigger problem than had been thought. Within two years, scientists and political leaders developed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer mandating cutbacks in CFC production beginning January 1989.

By 1993, increases of CFCs in the atmosphere stopped. By 1995, increases in ozone depletion stopped. By 1998, increases in average global temperatures stopped. The ozone layer remains depleted, the ocean continues to warm, ice continues to melt, and sea-level continues to rise, but global temperatures did not change significantly from 1998 through 2013. They also had not changed much from 1945 to 1970. Thus, humans appear to have accidentally caused the warming starting around 1970 by manufacturing large amounts of CFCs and to have accidentally stopped the warming of air in 1998 while trying to limit ozone depletion.

Meanwhile, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide rose linearly, but at ever-increasing rates, showing no direct relationship to the details of observed global warming. Dozens of peer-reviewed scientific papers by leading atmospheric scientists have tried to explain, based on greenhouse-warming theory, why global temperatures did not change much from 1998 through 2013, a phenomenon dubbed the global warming hiatus. While they suggest many interesting ideas, there has been little agreement.

In 2014, the volcano Bárðarbunga, in central Iceland, extruded basaltic lava covering 33 square miles of terrain in six months, the largest basaltic lava flow since 1783. These types of lava flows, covering tens to millions of square miles, have been contemporaneous with periods of greatest global warming, ocean acidification, and mass extinctions throughout all of geologic time. For example, 251 million years ago, the Siberian basalts covered an area of 2.7 million square miles, the size of the continental United States less Montana and Texas. Imagine basaltic lava extending from New York to San Francisco—from Seattle to Miami. Eruption of these basalts warmed the ocean to hot tub temperatures, killing 95% of all species living at the time. Basalts emit prodigious amounts of chlorine and bromine that seem to cause ozone depletion, although the precise chemical path has yet to be deciphered. The eruption of Bárðarbunga appears to have caused very rapid global warming from 2014 to 2016, which began to decrease in 2017 and should return to 2013 values within a decade.

The increase in tropospheric chlorine (green line) caused by manufacturing of chlorofluorocarbon gases led to increased ozone depletion (black line), which led to increased temperature (red bars).

In the 1980s, many leading scientists were convinced that greenhouse gases were the cause of global warming, that Earth was in danger of overheating during the 21st century as emissions of greenhouse gases increase, and that scientists must demonstrate consensus in order to convince political leaders to take the expensive steps necessary to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Through the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, they helped form the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. The IPCC has involved thousands of climate scientists writing tens of thousands of pages of thoughtful science supporting greenhouse-warming theory. The IPCC never did question the widespread assumption, however, that greenhouse gases were the primary cause of global warming. In December 2015, this effort reached fruition with the Paris Agreement where leaders of nearly all countries agreed to work together to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Science, however, is not done by popular vote. Science is not done by consensus. Consensus is the stuff of politics; debate is the stuff of science. Science is never settled. As Michael Crichton put it at Caltech in 2003: “In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus. There is no such thing as consensus science. If it’s consensus, it isn’t science. If it’s science, it isn’t consensus. Period.”

IPCC scientists are so convinced by their consensus and so tired of arguing with climate skeptics, that they refuse to even think about ozone depletion. Their models calculate that greenhouse gases absorb a lot more terrestrial infrared radiation than the small amount of solar ultraviolet-B radiation reaching Earth when ozone is depleted. Yet what they fail to realize is that the energy in thermal radiation is not a function of amount; it is a function of frequency. Ultraviolet-B radiation has 48 times the frequency of infrared radiation absorbed most strongly by carbon dioxide, 48 times the energy—has the potential to make the temperature of the absorbing body 48 times hotter. Ultraviolet-B radiation has enough energy to cause sunburn, skin cancer, and cataracts, something no amount of infrared energy can do. After all, you get much warmer standing in sunlight than standing outside at night with terrestrial infrared radiation welling up around you. I can now show that greenhouse gases do not absorb enough heat to be the primary cause of observed global warming.

Climate models based on greenhouse-warming theory have not predicted temperatures correctly since 1998. The major warming they predict later this century is highly unlikely to occur. As political leaders try to find ways to reduce greenhouse-gas concentrations with anticipated costs running in the trillions of dollars, they need to understand that this may have zero effect on reducing global warming.

Meanwhile, as long as ozone remains depleted relative to 1970 levels, the ocean will continue to warm. Recovery of the ozone layer is being slowed by a considerable black market in CFCs because people in poorer countries cannot afford to replace their refrigerators and air conditioners that depend on CFCs. Plus, shorter-lived substances such as dichloromethanes are having more of a negative effect on ozone levels than previously realized. If we really want to reduce our negative effect on climate, we need to focus on reducing ozone depletion. We also need to start thinking about our options when large flows of basaltic lavas start forming.

Dr. Peter L. Ward worked 27 years with the United States Geological Survey as research geophysicist, branch chief, and program manager. He helped develop and manage a major national research program, chaired a committee at the White House, testified before Congress, worked on a committee for Vice President Gore, published dozens of scientific papers, and won two national awards for explaining science to the general public. He retired in 1998, working intensely for the past twelve years, trying to resolve several enigmatic observations related to climate change.

Ward’s analysis and theory are explained in detail on his website, WhyClimateChanges.com, and in his new book: “What Really Causes Global Warming? Greenhouse Gases or Ozone Depletion?”

FSSA regrets to inform you of the passing of Robert (Bob) Avery, 85, on Thursday, April 5, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. He was the beloved husband of Barbara, and children Bobby, Michael, Charlene, Larry, Deborah, John, Carrie; 15 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. He is survived also by two brothers: Charlie and Bill Avery.

Bob was born and raised in Dallas, Texas to the late Richard and Lilie Mae Avery and was one of four boys. He graduated from Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas and went on to start Universal Fire Equipment Company in 1965. During those years, Bob served on the committee with the Texas State Fire Marshalls office and the State Board of Insurance to develop and get fire entry systems codes and regulations assigned into law. He received the 1st certificate of regulation ECR001.

Bob was a Founding Member of the Fire Suppression Systems Association (FSSA), and served on the organization’s first Board of Directors. He was the Installers Division Chair and served on several FSSA committees.

He will be remembered as a strong loving husband and father. Bob was an active member of the Catholic Church. He loved to travel and took his family on many family outings. He had a love of gardening and enjoyed playing golf. His favorite place to be was on his yacht out on the lake with his love, Barbara by his side.

A Funeral Mass was heard on Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at St. Judes Catholic Church in Allen, Texas.

Its margins still lag those of big rivals, and there’s no sign of the pressure ending soon.

Johnson Controls International Plc is taking one big step forward in its journey to become a multi-industrial company. It’s still got plenty of work left to do.

The company on Monday announced it will explore alternatives for its power solutions unit, which makes automotive batteries. This has been a long time coming.

The goal of Johnson Controls’ 2016 merger with Tyco International and spinoff of its Adient Plc auto-parts operations was to refocus the company on HVAC, fire and security products. Those tend to be high-margin, stable businesses that throw off cash — qualities favored by multi-industrial investors.

Gumming up this would-be transformation was Johnson Controls’ decision to keep its capital-intensive battery unit.

Strategically, HVAC systems and car batteries had little in common. Financially, the mismatch was problematic. The investments required for the battery business undermined Johnson Controls’ free-cash-flow conversion and ability to pay down debt from the Tyco deal.

Former Johnson Controls CEO Alex Molinaroli said last year the company wasn’t “deaf” to calls to shed this business, but executives also signaled a separation would be complicated, tax-wise. That’s partly because the Tyco merger was an inversion-style deal that moved Johnson Controls’ legal domicile to Ireland, limiting its ability to undertake tax-free spinoffs.

The recently passed U.S. tax legislation likely changed the calculus. The bill lowered the taxes companies must pay on sales of assets with significant U.S. operations, making an outright sale of the battery business a more palatable alternative, as Gadfly has argued.

The challenge for new CEO George Oliver — the former head of Tyco — will be convincing investors the building-efficiency division that’s left over after a breakup is worthy of their attention.

That unit earns less per dollar of sales than rival HVAC, fire and security operations at companies such as United Technologies Corp. or Ingersoll-Rand Plc. On Johnson Controls’ earnings call in November, Oliver suggested this shortfall was partly because of mismanagement of the business and a lack of price discipline. Price concessions to customers don’t appear to have translated into meaningful market-share gains either, Vertical Research Partners analyst Jeff Sprague has noted.

To boost growth, Johnson Controls is hiring 400 new sales people this year, after adding 50 in 2017. For now, that will mean even more margin pressure. President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on steel and aluminum are the cherry on top. Johnson Controls and other HVAC companies are heavy users of both metals. They were already struggling to pass higher raw-material costs on to their customers via higher prices. The more input expenses rise, the greater the risk of a profit squeeze.

The ultimate impact of the tariffs on Johnson Controls and other U.S. manufacturers is unclear. Canada, Mexico and Australia have won exemptions, but the risk of a trade war is still high, and price challenges will remain top of mind.

Given these ongoing challenges, it’s not terribly surprising Johnson Controls investors had a muted reaction to the company’s breakup announcement. As of early afternoon in New York, the shares were essentially flat.

RBC analyst Deane Dray estimates Johnson Controls should be worth $42 a share if its parts fetch valuations similar to peers (adjusted for its poor cash conversion) — a mere 9 percent higher than where the company traded on Friday. A breakup was needed, but it’s no magic potion.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story:
Brooke Sutherland in New York at bsutherland7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net

PORTSMOUTH — A second insurance provider for the Gas Light Co. has filed a federal lawsuit blaming three contractors for a massive Dec. 9, 2015, fire in the restaurant and seeks payment from the companies to cover fire-related costs.

The Patriot Insurance Company has filed a civil suit in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire against Tri State Hood and Duct and its affiliate Tri State Fire Protection, as well as Portsmouth Steam of Rye. The three-count lawsuit was filed on behalf of the insurer by Portsmouth attorney John Sherman and seeks an unspecified monetary judgement, while noting damages exceed the court’s $75,000 minimum threshold. The insurer is also seeking interest, plus costs for taking the case to court.

The Patriot Insurance lawsuit claims fire damage at the Gas Light was “caused by the gross negligence, negligence, carelessness and/or negligent acts” by Tri State Hood and Duct, which was paid to inspect, maintain and clean the restaurant’s commercial kitchen hood and ducts prior to the fire.

The suit alleges Tri State Hood and Duct failed to use care during cleaning and inspection, failed to hire proper employees and failed to alert anyone of fire hazards it knew, or should have known existed. The suit claims the Hudson company failed to clean and inspect the kitchen hood and ventilation system, improperly certified they were up to code, improperly installed access panels for fire suppression ducts and chose improper materials for fire suppression ducts and access panels.

In the second count of the federal suit, Patriot Insurance claims Tri State Fire Protection was negligent with regard to inspections, testing and servicing the fire suppression system. The third count alleges Portsmouth Steam failed to properly remove grease and other combustible and flammable materials from the restaurant’s fire suppression system and ducts.

Patriot Insurance is asking for a jury trial and the three contractors have not yet responded to the lawsuit, nor did they respond to the Herald’s request for comment.

The same three contractors are named as defendants in a lawsuit filed Monday by Gas Light insurer Harleysville Insurance. That insurance company makes similar claims in a six-count suit accusing each of the contractors of negligence and breach of contract.

Fire Chief Steve Achilles told the Herald the day of the fire that the blaze started in a duct for a wood-fired oven and burned up through the roof. He said it was possible there was grease in the duct, but that remained under investigation.

Four months after the fire, Gas Light owner Paul Sorli said he had insurance protection for six months of business losses, including keeping his managers on the payroll while the business was closed. When he reopened a year after the fire, Sorli said it took 12 months, $2.5 million and help from restaurant staff, contractors and a friendly local bank to get the building repaired and the business reopened. Sorli also said the fire suppression system for the wood-fired stove failed to activate.

Fire suppressant device and method, including expansion agent patent assigned to Federal Express Corp.Courtesy: United States Patent and Trademark Office

1/31/18

By Meagan Nichols, Lead Reporter
Memphis Business Journal

Data compression and fire suppression are the subjects of two patents recently assigned to FedEx by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a patent developed by Tawfik Lachheb out of Ladera Ranch, California, was assigned Jan. 23 for “data compression.” Federal Express Corp. was listed as the assignee.

The patent abstract states:

“Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for compressing rows of data stored in a first matrix using run length encoding (RLE) to produce an RLE encoded matrix. Compressing columns of the RLE encoded matrix into a set of arrays by differentially encoding data count values of the RLE encoded matrix, wherein each array in the set of arrays represents a column of the RLE encoded matrix.”

The second patent assigned to Federal Express Corp. on Jan. 23 was a “fire suppressant device and method, including expansion agent” developed by James Popp out of Olive Branch.

The patent abstract states:

“A device for suppressing and/or extinguishing a fire associated with a container may include a housing defining a hollow sleeve and a column configured to be received within the hollow sleeve. The column may define a first chamber, a second chamber, at least one aperture, and a piercing end configured to pierce a barrier. The first chamber may be configured to receive an expansion agent, and the second chamber may be configured to receive a fire extinguishing agent. The device may be configured such that upon activation of the expansion agent, the column extends from the housing so as to enable the piercing end to penetrate the container and to enable the fire extinguishing agent to be delivered into an interior of the container via the at least one aperture.”

Memphis-based delivery giant FedEx Corp. has more than 400,000 employees across the world who help deliver about 13 million packages to more than 220 countries and territories each day. In 2017, it reported $60.3 billion in annual revenue; it also reported $16.3 billion in revenue for the second quarter 2018.

SANDYVILLE, W.Va. — We’ve seen how quickly flames can destroy lives. But for 8-year-old Kendra Angus, she was determined that wasn’t going to happen.

“She looked there, and the smoke was coming from there,” Kendra Angus explained.

She said she was playing at a friend’s house Sunday when smoke alarms started going off. They saw it was coming from the back of the home, and that’s when Kendra grabbed a fire extinguisher.

“And I was a little scared, but I took it and got it and I took out the first fire, but the wind blew and made it a little bit worse, and then I helped her up the hill and she got it,” the 8-year-old described.

The fire was contained, Kendra’s mom saying she saved that home from going up.

“She stepped up and did her part. I mean if it weren’t for her they might not have a house and she might not have made it out with Kendra’s help,” smiled a proud Megan Thompson.

Thompson herself is a firefighter, along with other family members.

“They’re just in awe that she was so brave,” Thompson said of the reaction of friends and family.

She says she was shocked Kendra was so calm during the whole situation, adding most kids run or hide.

But she says every family needs to have a plan in place should a fire break out.

“Where to meet outside and not to freak out,” Thompson explained.

As for mom and daughter, saving lives seems to be all in the family.

“I’m very proud of her,” smiled Thompson, tearing up.

Kendra says maybe one day she’ll become a firefighter, just like her mom.

Trussville’s Amerex Corp. has several new leaders paving the way for the beginning of 2018.

Larry Whitehead, who has served in a variety of capacities within McWane Inc., has been appointed chief executive officer of the company that produces more than 3 million industrial and commercial fire extinguishers and fire suppression systems yearly.

While with McWane, he was president of president of Manchester Tank & Equipment Company for nine years and CEO for four.

Alongside Whitehead will be Harrison Bishop, who began his role as Amerex president on Jan. 1.

Bishop is a former president with The Solberg Companies. In addition to his responsibilities at Solberg, he was on the Amerex executive committee as vice president, strategic initiatives. Prior to his roles in the fire suppression industry, Bishop practiced law for more than a decade, focusing on mergers, acquisitions and general corporate law as a partner at Maynard Cooper and Gale PC.

Andy Payant also started his role executive vice president of finance for Amerex Jan. 1. Payant had been vice president and international controller of McWane Inc. since 2012. Previously, he was McWane’s vice president and controller from 1998 until 2012. Prior to joining McWane Inc., Payant held senior management positions at Compass Bank and Molton Allen & Williams.

Welcome

Thank you for visiting Wesco HMB, Inc's blog, where you can find all of the latest news and information on the fire suppression industry. Please leave a comment with any opinions, questions, or concerns. We look forward to talking with you.